12/20/14

2 New Greek Books, 1 Book on Paul: Thanks To Zondervan & Baker

Merry ChristmasTo: MichaelFrom: Zondervan & Baker

I want to offer up a big "Thank you!" to the gifts from Zondervan & Baker that have recently been sent along to me. I also want to encourage others to check out the resources I mention below (just click on the links).

The first book I want to mention is Beale, Brendsel, and Ross's An Interpretive Lexicon of the New Testament. This is a Zondervan publication and is, for all intents and purposes, a compact dictionary to NT particles. There are some interpretive helps but the real value, in my opinion, is to be found in the "quick-reference" aspect of it. Unlike with BDAG, which this book is based on, users do not have to carry around a huge book nor do they have to flip through thousands of pages. By the same token, they don't have to wade through long dictionary entries. No, this book is lightweight, user-friendly, and a real time saver. Each entry typically cross-references to the works of Wallace or others, which can also be helpful at times. This book does not function in such a way that it adds tons of new insights to the field. As I said, it's real value is found in its quick-reference features. I would commend this work to anyone interested in particles, you know, those tiny Greek words that so often give shape to an entire phrase, clause, or sentence. You can pick up your copy from Zondervan HERE in ebook ($9.99) or print form ($15.99).

Interpretive Lexicon of NT Greek

The next book I want to mention, also from Zondervan, which showed up in hardback form, is Studies in the Pauline Epistles: Essays in Honor of Douglas J. Moo. This book includes essays by big-hitters such as G.K. Beale, Craig Blomberg, James D.G. Dunn, Grant Osborne, Thomas Schreiner, and N.T. Wright, among others. It is divided into three sections: Exegeting Paul, Paul's Use of Scripture and the Jesus Tradition, and Pauline Scholarship and His Contemporary Significance. Within these sections there are essays covering numerous topics such as the Old/New Perspective on Paul, eschatology, Greek grammar and translation, etc. Weighing in at over 300 pages, this book is a bit more up the scale in price ($49.99). You can pick up your copy HERE.

Studies in the Pauline Epistles

The Last work I want to mention in this post is one sent along by Baker: Reading Koine Greek: An Introduction and Integrated Workbook, by the late Rod Decker. This book, clocking in at over 700 pages, is simply beautiful...it is one of the nicest Greek grammars I've seen. My copy is in hardback form. The layout is superb, easy on the eyes, and the information is, as with all of Decker's work, top-notch. For years I have only really been promoting David Alan Black's book, which I will continue to do, but this one has rightly found its place alongside that recommendation. With this Greek grammar I finally feel like I can tell me students "Get this!" without hesitating and without saying, "But be cautious about this..." I appreciate the fact that Decker offered the Koine Era Pronunciation (which I use at CKI and which is historically accurate) and I certainly appreciate his views on the Middle Voice and so-called Passive Voice (if you're not up to speed on that conversation, this might be a good place to start!). As I said, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Greek grammar(s). You can pick up your copy HERE. Many thanks to Baker for sending this along!

Reading Koine Greek (Decker)

If you're looking to buy the scholar in your life something for Christmas (or if you are a scholar wanting to give some gifts to yourself), consider these works. Merry Christmas y'all!